Not Always a Matter of Swords
by A'Wunderkind
Summary: Alise Kemp finds a ring in the backyard of the ruins of her house. Slipping it on, she is transported to the Lond Islands. Here she is expected to deliever a ragtag band from the remanents of the White Witch's army.
1. Prologue: London 1943

_Disclaimer_: I do not own any thing recognizable either by C.S. Lewis or from The Chronicles of Narnia.

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**Prologue: London, 1943**

On any other afternoon, the London sky might have been a clear blue with wisps of cloud scattered across the sky. On a normal day, the breeze would have blown coolly through the boulevards as the neighborhood children played hopscotch on the stone sidewalk with a dog barking after them. In a month where fear didn't press in from all sides, I would have been up in my second story room reading, while Lettie, our maid, did laundry out back. A year without war would find my father coming home about now, methodically hanging up his coat in the hall closet and then going to kiss my mother on the cheek.

A tear, for normalcy and what has been, rolls down my cheek, as I look the remains of our house. All 16 years of my life have been spent playing, eating, and sleeping there. After the bombing, only half my room survived, from what I can see through the charred brick. My father—missing in action. We do not know what became of Lettie. I'd like to think that she ran off to become a nurse in service of our country. There she would have met a handsome soldier, valiantly wounded in battle, and fallen in love. One can only hope.

My mother was a few yards down the road talking to Mrs. Pierce, an older lady whose son is stationed over in France and whose granddaughter has been relocated into the country side. She's all I had now.

I look up at the sky, screened by smoke and ashes, in hopes to stall the onslaught of tears threatening to break loose. Why did things have to turn out like this? Why does my life feel like the remains of my house? Only half there with rubble, piping, and glass strewn about. Completely devastated.

"It is just stone. We can rebuild," comes the soft, but firm voice of my mother. A comforting hand squeezes my shoulder, "we have to be strong." I choke back a bitter laugh, recalling a similar statement made a few years earlier.

"Alise Veronica Kemp, come out here! You are making your mother upset," my father huffed through the wood of my door. I didn't want to hear anything he had to say. He couldn't say anything that would justify him enlisting. No words can make up for abandonment. "Have I raised such a selfish daughter?"

The door creaked as he leaned his solid frame up against it and I could here a muffled thunk as he dropped his duffle on the floor. Sighing, he continued, "I don't know if I can make you understand why I am doing this. I know you think I am leaving you and your mother, but that I know if I don't go I would be doing worse than abandoning you. And not just you, even though everything else means nothing without you, I still have an obligation to the rest of our family and our friends and our country.

"Difficult times usually present us with hard choices. Your mom is trying to be strong, but she is not going to be able to do it on her own, once I am gone. I need you to be strong, Alise. Do you think I want to go? No, Alise, I'm scared to go. There is nothing I would rather do than stay here with the two loves of my life. But how can I justify that I love you if I don't do everything in my power to ensure your safety? And if I stay and one of you gets hurt, I will always wonder if I could have been that one person that could have made a difference and stopped anything bad from happening.

"I wish I could say that I am only going to be gone for a short time, but only God knows how long this is really going to last. But no matter how long I am gone, I know you and your mom will be right here waiting for me. I love you, Alise." The bitter resignation in his voice, I couldn't handle. I was selfish to think that was going to be easy for him to just take up and leave for an unexpected shore. I went out into the hallway and let myself be engulfed by his arms. It seemed like the most difficult journeys in life are those far from home.

My mother and I ventured inside the house to see if there was anything we could salvage. This was going to be our last time in London for some while, most of our belongings were already on the way to a distant relative's cottage in the countryside.

I picked up a picture of my dad in his golfing outfit, the edges only a little singed, and let it fall into the basket I carried. "Be careful Alise," my mother called from further inside the house. I made my way to the back yard and was crushed to find the old apple tree toppled over with its roots in the air. I set my basket down on the porch and worked my way through the debris to the fallen tree.

"Poor, poor thing," I couldn't help but feel sorry for the plant, even though it didn't feel or think. I gave a rueful smile at that thought; I actually used to talk to this tree regularly as a child. I would climb high up into the branches, avoiding Lettie and mother, in hopes to escape horrendous tasks such as chores and bathtimes. As I waited for them to forget about me (which they never did to my chagrin), I would quietly whisper my vexation and frustration to the leaves. Of course, I was never very angry for long, and so the ranting would soon turn into a wealth of secrets and random musings. I always like to believe the big old tree heard what I said, and the branches were sighing because they agreed with a conviction of mine or thought some flippant comment funny.

I let my hand trail along gnarled bark as I walked down the girth of the trunk to the centrifugal roots. I was amazed at the size of tangled mass, and it made me wonder how old this tree was. The house was supposedly only 50 or so years old, but if the underside of the tree were anything to go by, I would have guessed at least a hundred. 

I was in a bit of a daze while thinking about such things, that I didn't pay attention to my footing. My foot hooked in a surfaced root and I fell face first into the disturbed soil. Ugg! Just my luck…but anymore exasperated thought was cut off as I caught a glint of something gold embedded in the dirt between the roots. "Hello, what do we have here?" I murmured as I began to extract what looked to be a ring out of its earthen casing.

I held it up to the hazy light, and decided that it was a piece of fine quality gold, "Mother, mother, come look at what I found." Using the edge of my jumper I wiped off the grime and wondered if this peculiar piece would fit me. I slipped it onto my finger and…vanished.

Mrs. Kemp emerged from the back door, only to find the yard empty, save for the scattered rubble and a fallen tree. "Well, that is strange. I thought I heard Alise calling from out here." She shrugged, bent down to grab her daughter's forgotten basket, and turned to go back inside the wreckage that used to be her house.

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( _A/N _: Fun fact—I like to do a lot with names and their significance to their character so here is what our heroine's name means:

**Alise**: variant of ALICE - which is the short form of the Old French _ADELAIDE_ - which was composed of the elements _adal_ "noble" and _heid_ "kind, sort, type"

**Veronica **: Latin form of _BERENICE_ - which is the Macedonian form of the Greek name _Pherenike_, which meant "bringing victory"

**Kemp **: Derived from the Middle English _kempe_ meaning "champion, warrior"

Hope you were satisfied with the first insert of the story! Oh, and constructive critisism would be helpful!)


	2. Chapter 1: From One World to Another

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any thing recognizable either by C.S. Lewis or from The Chronicles of Narnia.

Question – should I start making these chapters longer? If I do, then I won't get them up as soon, but I feel like I am only giving you readers mere glimpses of what is…grrr…

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**Chapter 1: **From One World to Another 

_I held it up to the hazy light, and decided that it was a piece of fine quality gold, "Mother, mother, come look at what I found." Using the edge of my jumper I wiped off the grime and wondered if this peculiar piece would fit me. I slipped it onto my finger and…vanished._

All of a sudden the world became one great haze to me. The only thing I could have likened it to is the time between a dream and waking. All sense of time faded and I was found myself in a silent green wood.

It wasn't a dense forest; a soft yellow light permeated the canopy. But there were no shadows, so I couldn't tell which way the sun, or whatever illuminated this odd forest, was facing. There was also no breeze, but the air wasn't stale or suffocating. The leafy trees made no sound, but I didn't feel uncomfortable in the silence. I actually felt tired.

The grass underfoot looked like a wondrous bed at the moment, and I was almost of the mind to lie down and just take a nap. Then a small pool caught my attention and my curiosity got the better of me. I walked over to where the pool was and looked down. The surface was unmoving; so clear was the water that it acted like a mirror. In it I saw a girl with unruly auburn hair and wide celery eyes. Her jumper was faded and dirty and one of her stockings was bunched around her ankle. She looked unsure of whether or not she wanted to make the transition between adolescence and womanhood. That girl seemed familiar and unconsciously my hand drifted towards the reflection. Right before touching the surface, I noticed a ring on my left index finger.

Seeing that metal band made all of the pieces quickly fall back into place and I remembered what had happened. It was my glassy reflection, my house, the fallen tree, and this ring. How had I gotten here? And more importantly, where was here? I took a couple steps back from the pool, which didn't seem too enticing anymore, and quickly scanned my surroundings. It all looked the same. There was only lush green grass below, glimpses of other pools through the trees, and no sign of sky above.

"This is certainly a place, where I could easily get lost. Everything looks the same," at that statement I had to bite back a bitter laugh, "Wait, I'm already lost! Oh, what am I going to do?" As a child, I was always told that if I should ever find my self lost, I should stay in the same place, unless there was an officer or attendant of some sort near. Then, if that was the case, I should go ask the person for help. Unfortunately, there wasn't another soul in sight, and I didn't expect that my parents knew where I was, seeing as how my mother was back in London and my father was lost in France! I wasn't counting on anyone finding me soon…unless…

"Did I die?" I knew it was a preposterous idea, but I was ready to go with anything just to figure out what in the world was happening to me. "Okay, if I died, then this would be…heaven? Or not. It doesn't look like Hell, much too nice for Hell. Maybe Limbo? I give up…where am I?"

That last part I shouted, and almost felt bad for disrupting the stillness of the wood. With a sigh, I leaned against the nearest tree and let my mind drift back over the events that had transpired. "Okay, I found the ring, I put it on, and I ended up here. Why does that sound so simple, but I just can't comprehend that I am in some strange glade in the middle of who-knows-where!" I yanked the ring off my finger and stared it at really hard. I guessed I kind of hoped that it would start talking or have a glowing inscription, like the One Ring from _The Lord of the Rings_. Well, as impossible as either sounded, it would still have given me more of a clue than I had now.

Somewhere between the questions and explanations that my mind presented me with, I dozed off. It was a place where I felt safe, despite my knowing nothing about it. So when I awoke, sometime later (actually, I had no clue as to how much time had passed), and found the face of a lion surrounded by a glorious mane staring at me with frighteningly intelligent eyes, I was too shocked to scream. I blinked, rubbed my eyes, and wondered if this was all a dream for the second time today. Then a sudden breath of air from the lion hit my face, blowing a strand of hair out of my eyes, and he turned around and began to walk into the forest. I still didn't know what to do at this point, so I just sat there with my back up against the smooth bark of the tree and watched the large animal's retreating backside.

The legs stopped, about twenty yards from where I sat in a daze, and the great head swung around. "Walk with me, Daughter of Eve," came an indescribable voice out of what I assumed was the lion's mouth. I assumed that he was talking about me. I looked around just to make sure, but there was still only us in the woods at the time. He wasn't a tame lion, I knew that just by looking at the magnificent beast, but I couldn't help but trust him at the same time. I slowly got up and brushed myself off and strolled over to where the lion had paused.

We walked in silence for sometime. The lion seemed to have a direction in mind, but to me it was just meaningless wandering. I know it seems strange that I easily acquiesced to the lion's request, but despite his daunting demeanor, I couldn't help but think of any other place in the world I would rather be than right there at that moment with him. Not to mention, I was bursting with questions, and it became too much. I hated the fact that I was so naïve to what was happening and that scared me, so I finally got around the insane fact that I was talking to a lion and asked, "Ummm, could you possibly tell me what is going on here? Where is here, why are there pools everywhere, and who are you?"

An amused chuckle emerged from the lion. I didn't think lions could laugh. Well, I guess there is a first time for everything. I had to smile at that. "Patience, patience, we are almost there," he rumbled. I assumed that was my cue to be quiet for the remainder of our stroll, so I shut my mouth and enjoyed the scenery.

We finally stopped at a pool. I didn't get what was so significant about that certain pool, but I had no room to talk, seeing as how I was blindly following a lion. I had become accustomed to the silence, so I started a little when he spoke, "Daughter of Eve, here is where your questions will be answered. I am Aslan." He gave his name and no title, but the way he said it, it needed none. The way he said Aslan made me think of the security and warmth of my mother's embrace, the content feeling of curling up by a fire with a good book, and the excitement of Christmas morning. "You have been taken out of your world and pulled into another, but not without purpose. This wood we stand in now is like a resting place between destinations. That ring in your pocket, it was hidden by another who has also wandered through these woods and other worlds. I am in need of your services, Alise. What I require of you is to step into that pool and venture beyond." And he ended at that. I would have like to have asked Aslan more, but there was finality in his tone. I either chose to follow him, or I refused and I hoped he would send me home and not eat me.

Things were happening to fast, and I didn't even thing about it when I said, "Yes, I'll go," I was a bit surprised at my answer. And then a stab of fear pierced my stomach, what had I done? So many things could go wrong, and I didn't even know what those things were! I had no clue what I had gotten myself into. I felt so overwhelmed that I dropped down and buried my face in Aslan's thick mane. I took a few deep breaths, calmed myself down, and looked straight at him again with what I hoped was determination in my face, "I am ready."

He looked pleased at my statement, and replied, "Very well, be brave little one. Remember that I will be with you whatever your need." I slowly rose and looked down into the pool again. The same girl was staring back at me, dirty clothes, wild hair, and shining eyes, but there was something different. It wasn't a physical change, no, but it was a change nonetheless. The way the girl held herself, instead of trying to blend into the background, was with certainty and determination that presented fortitude for whatever would transpire.

"I can do this," and then I stepped into the pool…

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(_A/N_: Oh, I am so mean! Another cliffie! ...Okay, I know it was kind of weird to find Aslan in the Wood, but I figured that if Jadis, Polly, Diggory, etc. could travel there, then Aslan could go there as well. We'll just say that I used a little creative license on that one. Anyway, thank you everyone who reviewed and I hope to get the next installment up soon…and I also hope I don't run out of developed story line! Yikes!)

**Shining Star of Valinorm** – Yes, it is the ring that Polly and Diggory used…Alise actually lives in Diggory's old house and she found the ring he hid under the tree. The tree is the one that grew from the core of the apple that Diggory took from the Garden in _The Magician's Nephew_…yep, I did my research! I always appreciate it when writers are accurate in their portrayal of events (especially when it is based on a book and all it takes is a simple flip of a few pages and a couple lines scanned to get the right information)

**electricxrain**– Well, she is technically not in Narnia, it is actually more like province of Narnia…don't worry though, Alise will eventually make her way there. She has some things that she has to take care of first before traveling to the land between the Lantern Waste and Cair Paravel.

**Katy (Domlando Blonaghan)** – Thank you, you made me blush! You think I have quality…thank you, but don't be too hasty! XD I don't know, I just know that this is going to be romance…the fluff bunnies suddenly attacked me and commanded me to write a love story. What the fluff bunnies didn't know was that I like developed characters and vivid plotlines, so the starry eyes and hopeless sighs might be a while off. Hmmm, this might just develop into a Peter romance, I've always liked him better than Edmund (you know the strong, noble type—not to mention William Moseley was rather fetching in the movie, but ), but that is quite a ways off…so I could be tricky and write an Edmund pairing…choices, choices, choices! Hahaha!

R/R...always lovely!


	3. Authors Note

First, of all I'd like to apologize for the hiatus that has fallen upon this sad little beginning of a story. I had just graduated high school when I started this and have not had time to really sit down and write once I got to college. I know that is a pathetic excuse, but it is the only one I have…

Second, I would like to apologize to the readers – you guys are great, and I'm sorry I dangled the string in front of you only to decide that I don't like it anymore and then take it away, or something of the sort!

Third, I'm going to remove this story…

Fourth, and probably the best news, I've just recently revisited the books, found some flaws in my story, gotten things sorted out, and am revamping the whole thing. I'm going to finish it before I even post it so that I can consistently update a new chapter every week. I really want this to be good and I don't want to be one to leave a story only halfway told! So look for a whole new story by me, A'Wunderkind, this next summer!


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